I shall charge half-shares in the royalties, and throw in my
silence as to your guilty secret. In the eyes of the world you
shall still be the man who has devoted his life to the study of
transepts and Byzantine ritual; only sometimes, in the long winter
evenings, when the wind howls drearily down the chimney and the
rain beats against the windows, I shall think of you as the author
of 'Cora with the lips of coral.' Of course, if in sheer
gratitude at my silence you like to take me for a much-needed
holiday to the Adriatic or somewhere equally interesting, paying
all expenses, I shouldn't dream of refusing."
Later in the afternoon Clovis found his aunt and Mrs. Riversedge
indulging in gentle exercise in the Jacobean garden.
"I've spoken to Mr. Brope about F.," he announced.
"How splendid of you! What did he say?" came in a quick chorus
from the two ladies.
"He was quite frank and straightforward with me when he saw that I
knew his secret," said Clovis, "and it seems that his intentions
were quite serious, if slightly unsuitable. I tried to show him
the impracticability of the course that he was following. He said
he wanted to be understood, and he seemed to think that Florinda
would excel in that requirement, but I pointed out that there were
probably dozens of delicately nurtured, pure-hearted young English
girls who would be capable of understanding him, while Florinda
was the only person in the world who understood my aunt's hair.
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